LZIp

something else to look at (maybe a Dave project), would be to see what the highest rated Academic Partnerships school is.

Has there even been a first Zip in the NBA? Nobody stands out on the current roster right now (maybe Pat, its weird how 7fters are so highly regarded, but of course, we thought the same about Zeke), but I do think the talent is there for one of them to make it. Kwan is a very unique player that could find himself in the NBA with improvement in a few areas of his game (rebounding and more consistent 3/overall offensive game). Pat as I've mentioned before, maybe Robo I think if he becomes a bigger threat offensively. Hard for me to compliment on Williams since I haven't seen him play college bball.

Which takes it back to my post on the topic with the question- What is UA going to do to make an online degree candidate choose UA instead of some much more well known and reputable university?

Saw some players at Summit mall today getting donations for an Akron AAU team. Nice to see them out in public, especially doing something for the community. They said they are feeling good about the season and pumped for the Oklahoma game.

congrats to Darren. My favorite Zip player to watch while I was at UA.

lol thats hilarious.

Attendance definitely needs to improve and I'm not going to get into all of that tonight, but based on what has been discussed in this thread before with the unfortunate scheduling last year and the somewhat beneficial scheduling this year in regards to dates, times, and opponents I'm will to bet our attendance increases 33% at minimum this season. I hope someone saves this post. Will be interesting to look at after the season.

Great digging Dave.You've provided a ton of good information.I've finally had time to do some reading. This to me shows that Scarby (thats what I'm referring to him as for now on) cares more about bringing in revenue than quality of education, which is not surprising based on his past and all of the moves he has made thus far at UA. Lets face it, companies aren't beating down doors looking to hire U of Phoenix grads. I personally think a happy medium should be found, though I admittedly don't have an idea how that would be done. I read an article on Forbes regarding Academic Partnerships, and it stated they get 50% of the tuition from their program. I think I saw above that some partnerships have been higher. I haven't looked into contracts at all, but I'm assuming there is an upfront cost as well. Seems insane, but for the most part its only "costing" you when students are participating in the program. In other words, theoretically you are still coming out ahead because you are bringing in revenue you otherwise wouldn't have. However, there would students switching from the traditional program to the online program, so you would also be increasing costs you otherwise wouldn't have. The low estimate of 50% cost means you are going to need close to twice as much, probably more, enrollment in programs as a breakeven point compared to the traditional way. Not to mention the opportunity cost of losing students who would prefer to get a real college experience over an online one, which I'm assuming is still largely preferred. The biggest question (and something I'm curious to know) is what is UA going to do to attract students? Why would I choose to take a UA online program when I can do it at a higher regarded University? The partnership is sure to piss a lot of people off, as we know from the Toledo deal. People are also going to lose their jobs. I'm sure it could be done internally at a lower cost which would make for a better profit margin. I think there is a place for online classes in the year of 2015, but I think it needs to be done in moderation and with much due diligence to reduce the hit on the quality of education as much as possible. More than enough data should be available for UA to know if they are making the right decision. Is the increase in enrollment worth the cost, drop in quality, lost jobs, and bad PR? Scarby has all he needs to make an informed decision. I hope he is making it based on his best judgement and not some ulterior motive(s). Most likely an independence issue for sure, but based on his past with the company and him pushing it wherever he goes, I wonder if he has a stake in ownership?

UA named the 7th best university in Ohio and 543rd best in the world http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/07/11_ohio_universities_among_top.html

Scarb backpedaling again http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20150720/NEWS/150729989/university-of-akron-president-scott-scarborough-plans-to-roll-back

Before that they were ranked 24th in the CFP poll with Boise being the only threat at 23. Certainly possible an undefeated Marshall team could have jumped one spot.

I believe the stipulation was the ceiling "if everything went Akron's way", which i assume is synonymous with them being the highest ranked G5 team. To put it in perspective, Boise got the automatic bid last year being ranked 20th with two losses and not a single win over a P5 opponent. Marshall actually lost a barn-burner to WKU, but would have made it even with the weakest schedule in probably D-1 history. They somehow managed to avoid playing a single P5 opponent.

You sure about that? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_bids_to_college_bowl_games

Once again, incorrect. Maybe not the Fiesta Bowl, but if the Zips were to go undefeated, which would include a win over top 25 ranked Oklahoma and bowl bound Pitt as well as "everything else going their way", they would be a lock to be selected to a CFP (fomerly known as BCS) bowl game by being the highest ranked non-P5 team and there isn't anything any bowl rep can do to keep them from getting into one of them. You all are forgetting our friends in Portage County were some dumb TE reverse away from going to the Orange Bowl themselves a few seasons ago.

Why not just drop football altogether so we would never lose another football game again!?!

Incorrect.

Fortunately for Akron, they don't get much use so that shouldn't be an issue.

Thanks. So at least two of them went out of their way unsolicited to say that merger/acquisitions are completely off the table. Some may see looking to save money in areas where it makes sense in a way that won't ruffle feathers as showing that there is a problem. Others may see it as being fiscally diligent. I can't imagine it would be in the best interest of Scarborough or Tressel to be apart of some merger where one would lose their position/both would take a substantial pay cut (which is sort of the whole point of a merger).

If they are stupid enough to think that, UA has a lot bigger problems than we thought.

Obviously no material progress is going to happen overnight, but my point is that the University has chosen the direction they want to to go so now it's time to see how it plays out. They aren't all of the sudden going to scrap the Polytech idea and decide to merge with Can't. You are not correct about fixing a single year deficit. The changes made are permanent, therefore will reduce costs annually. Steps have been taken to improve most of the issues, but it takes time for this stuff to happen. Ex. How do you expect graduation rates to improve when the current seniors were enrolled when UA was still open enrollment? I admittedly must have missed them meeting to discuss some partnership to cut costs. Can you provide a source? NEO med would probably make a good case study for some full-on merger of the regional universities. I don't know enough to form my own opinion on it, but from most accounts on here it seems as its considered a disappointment.

Schools have gave out monthly stipends for years. Source: UA tennis player.

Why is a merger even being discussed on this forum at this point? With UA already differentiating itself as a Polytech University, its clear we aren't looking to merge with anybody and won't need to no matter what if all goes to plan and we end up on the "right side of that napkin". How many times are we going to regurgitate the same fairytale? The merger talk in seemingly every thread is clutter at this point. Last I checked, we've made all necessary expense cuts and will no longer be running a deficit. What's the problem again?

UAtoZ ‏@UAtoZ 2h2 hours ago Akron, OH Tomorrow, former @AkronROTC Dir. & Comdt. of the @uakron Corps of Cadets, Lt. Col. Brad Harvey, stops by to share his vision for program!

Appreciate your input with the bball team, GoZips, but I'm going to have to call "bull" on all 5'11" on a good day "Bull" being able to play any small forward.

I'm not a regular reader of the ABJ, but did they print this story as a followup? http://www.wakr.net/personalities/jasen-sokol/item/159244-audio-ua-interim-ad-baseball-s-gone-no-football-drop If not, pathetic.